Uruguay · Sierras del Uruguay

Bodega Garzón

Organic Tannat and Albariño from 2.5-billion-year-old granite in the hills of southern Uruguay.

The producer

Bodega Garzón grows Tannat, Albariño and Pinot Noir on 240 hectares of organically farmed vineyards in the granite hills near Garzón, inland from Punta del Este. Founded by Alejandro P. and Bettina Bulgheroni, the estate opened its winery in 2018 to become the first facility outside North America to achieve 100% LEED Silver certification across its entire complex. Argentine consultant Alberto Antonini works with the team on viticulture and winemaking. The gravity-flow winery and untoasted French oak ageing preserve the fruit and mineral character that the ancient granite soils push into the wines across the Reserva, Single Vineyard and Balasto tiers.

Known for

Granite-grown Tannat and Albariño from Uruguay

Notable facts

The story

LEED and the year

When Bodega Garzón completed its winery construction in 2018, the certifying body under LEED standards assessed the entire facility, not just one building. No winery outside North America had previously achieved Silver certification across all its structures simultaneously. The commitment covered renewable energy generation through wind and photovoltaic systems, efficient water management, and a gravity-flow design that reduced mechanical handling throughout the winemaking process. In the same year, Wine Enthusiast named Bodega Garzón New World Winery of the Year, and the estate's Balasto 2015 appeared on the magazine's World Top 100 Wines list.

LEED and the year

When Bodega Garzón completed its winery construction in 2018, the certifying body under LEED standards assessed the entire facility, not just one building. No winery outside North America had previously achieved Silver certification across all its structures simultaneously. The commitment covered renewable energy generation through wind and photovoltaic systems, efficient water management, and a gravity-flow design that reduced mechanical handling throughout the winemaking process. In the same year, Wine Enthusiast named Bodega Garzón New World Winery of the Year, and the estate's Balasto 2015 appeared on the magazine's World Top 100 Wines list.

From the atlas

Bodega Garzón

A Uruguayan estate in the granite hills above Garzón where Tannat and Albariño are grown on organic vineyards inside South America's first LEED-certified winery.

At A Glance

CountryUruguay
RegionMaldonado department, near Garzón and Punta del Este
Main grapesTannat, Albariño, Pinot Noir
Signature wineBalasto
Defining featureOrganic vineyards on ancient granite, first LEED Silver-certified winery outside North America

The Producer

Granite is the material Bodega Garzón works from. The estate sits in the hills near the small town of Garzón, inland from Punta del Este in southern Uruguay, where shallow soils over ancient granite force vines to dig deep and produce concentrated, mineral-edged fruit. Alejandro P. Bulgheroni and his wife Bettina founded the project after discovering the area, and the estate they built has grown to 240 hectares of vineyards within a 2,200-hectare property where subtropical forest has been kept intact alongside the vines.

Tannat is Uruguay's signature red grape, thick-skinned and tannic, and the version Bodega Garzón produces on granite shifts that character toward brightness. Albariño arrived here from Galicia but produces something different in Uruguay: a white wine shaped by the region's Atlantic proximity and the mineral pull of the granite soils. Pinot Noir completes the principal range, grown on the same hillside terraces. Argentine consultant Alberto Antonini has worked with the estate on viticulture and winemaking.

The winery opened in 2018 and in that same year received Wine Enthusiast's New World Winery of the Year award. Francis Mallmann serves as the estate's culinary ambassador and director.

Place

The estate occupies the rolling hills of Maldonado department in southern Uruguay, where the land rises away from the Atlantic coast in a series of granite ridges. The proximity to the ocean brings cooling maritime influence across the vineyards, moderating the subtropical temperatures that would otherwise push ripeness too far. Warm days and cooler nights define the growing season, where the fruit develops concentration but retains the acidity that stops Tannat from feeling flat and lets Albariño hold its saline edge.

The town of Garzón gives the estate its name and its address: a quiet inland point in a region better known for the summer resort coast than for wine.

Soil And Site

The granite beneath Bodega Garzón's vineyards dates back 2.5 billion years. That age matters in practical terms: the rock breaks down slowly, creating shallow, poor soils that drain freely and push vines to develop deep root systems. Sparse, free-draining soils tend to concentrate flavour in the fruit and hold back the kind of lush, heavy character that richer ground produces. On this granite, Tannat retains its structural weight but with more defined acidity; Albariño picks up a mineral, stony quality alongside the stone fruit and citrus that the grape gives almost anywhere.

The vineyards are planted on natural terraces in the hills, with an elevation and exposure that the staggered winery design mirrors: building and vines share the same stepped hillside logic.

Story

Alejandro Bulgheroni began the Garzón project in 2009 on land that had not previously been farmed for wine. The region near Garzón sat outside the established Uruguayan wine conversation, which had centred further west. Building an estate here required starting from the ground up: clearing land, planting vines, and constructing a facility designed from the beginning around sustainability and minimal intervention.

The winery that took shape over the following years was built with a gravity-flow layout, so grapes move from reception through fermentation and into ageing vessels by slope and weight rather than pumping. Wind and photovoltaic panels generate energy on site. Concrete for the fermentation vessels was specified without epoxy lining, which avoids the chemical barrier between wine and the concrete's natural mineral porosity, allowing a degree of micro-oxygenation during ageing. When construction completed in 2018, the facility became the first winery outside North America to have 100% of its buildings certified under LEED Silver standards, covering the entire 19,050-square-metre complex.

In that same year, Balasto, the estate's flagship red from the 2015 vintage, was named to Wine Enthusiast's World Top 100 Wines list.

Vineyards And Cellar

The 240 hectares under vine are farmed organically, with all grapes harvested by hand and selected bunch by bunch in the vineyard before reaching the winery. The organic approach on these thin granite soils means no synthetic inputs to compensate for the natural stress the vines already experience.

Inside the winery, the gravity-flow design means fruit moves gently from the receiving area downward through fermentation and into the ageing areas without mechanical pumping. Fermentation vessels include stainless steel tanks, concrete tanks without epoxy lining, and oak truncated cone-shaped vats. The Tannat Reserva follows a specific path: fermentation in large concrete tanks, six months in stainless steel, then twelve months in untoasted French oak casks. The untoasted oak contributes less vanilla and smoke than heavily toasted alternatives, preserving more of the fruit character and firm tannins the grape brings from the vineyard.

The estate's total capacity reaches 2.2 million litres across the 19,050-square-metre building.

Wines

The range moves across three main tiers. Reserva is the entry level, covering Tannat, Albariño and other varietals in a format that shows the grape and the granite without the extended ageing of the upper tiers. Single Vineyard goes further, selecting fruit from specific blocks within the estate; the Pinot Noir Single Vineyard and Albariño Single Vineyard both appear at this level. Petit Clos and Balasto occupy the top of the range.

Tannat Reserva is the straightforward introduction to the estate's red character: twelve months in untoasted French oak give the wine body and shape without obscuring the grape's blue fruit and firm tannins. The Albariño in both Reserva and Single Vineyard formats demonstrates how the grape performs on granite rather than the schist or granite of its Galician origins, with salinity and mineral character alongside the citrus and stone fruit. Pinot Noir Single Vineyard adds a red-fruited, lower-tannin option to the range, its carmine colour and cherry aromatics set apart from the density of the Tannat.

In The Glass

The Tannat Reserva opens with blue fruit, blueberry and a rose-petal edge, with balsamic depth beneath the primary aromatics. The palate has taut acidity and tannins that press through to a persistent finish, the untoasted oak contributing shape without adding obvious wood flavour. This is Tannat with energy rather than heaviness.

The Albariño Reserva shows a different kind of freshness: pale yellow-green in the glass, with peach and citrus pith on the nose and a stony mineral finish that persists after the fruit recedes. Lively and bright. The Albariño Single Vineyard pushes the mineral character further, adding lime, green apple, umami and a saline quality on the palate alongside stone fruit, orange and grapefruit. The mouthfeel is medium-bodied with firm acidity and a round, fresh texture. Both versions carry the granite underfoot into the glass.

Pinot Noir Single Vineyard shows cherries and rose on the nose, with red fruit on the palate and a tannin presence that contributes to the wine's overall complexity without the grip of the Tannat.

A Bottle To Understand It

Choose the Albariño Single Vineyard. It is the bottle where the granite terroir is most legible: hand-harvested fruit from a specific estate block, fermented to show the mineral and saline character the ancient soils pull into the wine. On the nose, lime, green apple and a saline, seashell quality. On the palate, stone fruit, citrus, bright acidity, and a firm mineral finish that stays long after the fruit fades. Albariño from its Galician homeland rarely carries this particular combination of salinity and stony grip, because the soils and Atlantic exposure here are working differently. The Tannat Reserva is the estate's red introduction, and the Single Vineyard range goes deeper, but the Albariño Single Vineyard gives the fullest picture of what the estate's granite does.

Anecdote

When construction on the winery wrapped in 2018, the certifying body under LEED standards reviewed the entire Bodega Garzón facility, not just one building. No winery outside North America had achieved Silver certification across all its buildings simultaneously. The distinction mattered practically: it committed every part of the operation to renewable energy generation, efficient water use and minimal environmental footprint, not just the visitor-facing parts. In the same year, Wine Enthusiast named Bodega Garzón New World Winery of the Year.

Final Word

Bodega Garzón grows Tannat, Albariño and Pinot Noir on 2.5-billion-year-old granite in the hills of southern Uruguay, farming organically on a hillside estate whose gravity-flow winery remains the first of its kind certified to LEED Silver outside North America.

Sources

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